Here are two Cleveland City Councilors who are able to think independently from the political pack.   Both Mr. Reed (on left) and Mr. Cummins (on right) were not hesitant this evening to challenge the Council "leadership".   But the gerrymandering  was a done deal.

I participated in a panel last week in vegas on open standards for aggregation streams.  We had on one panel an unprecedented set of companies all discussing working together for the  benefit of the end-users, not themselves.  Google, Microsoft, Facebook, MySpace and Plaxo (COMCAST) were all on the panel.  And me.

What are aggregations streams?

What are open standards?

How come there isn’t more coverage of the interview Fareed Zakaria did with Elliot Spitzer on Friday?

I tend to find it true what people say - people choose dogs that resemble themselves, in some ways - so seeing these two dogs together in the 2009 St. Patrick's Day parade made me think of two local political leaders who very likely would gravitate toward such best friends, and who love a good parade, and who in fact look shocking like these lovely creatures here (assuming they are boys)...

scene magazine

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An animal lover’s guide to the Kucinich-Cimperman race

Mon Feb 25, 2008 at 05:32:24 AM

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This Magic Moment
By Jennifer Anderson

Wouldn't it be great if a community could use videophone technology - like what you can get for free from Skype - to help each other?

If someone had a question - all they'd have to do is videophone up somebody and ask an answer.

The idea is that experts can support newbies in almost any area - and vice versa.

So if you were working on a home repair job or winterizing and you needed an experts advice, you could find him/her.

And if they needed help in creating a web site or balancing your companies books - they could help you.

Auguste Perret (1874 – 1954) was a French architect who specialized in reinforced concrete construction, known as Béton Brut.

FALLEN HERO'S

BY

SERGIO MUNQUIA

"I HAVE BEEN WHERE YOU FEAR TO GO...

I HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU FEAR TO SEE...

I HAVE DONE WHAT YOU FEAR TO DO....

ALL THESE THINGS I HAVE DONE FOR YOU.

I AM THE ONE YOU LEAN UPON...

THE ONE YOU CAST YOUR SCORN UPON...

THE ONE YOU BRING YOUR TROUBLES TO...

ALL THESE PEOPLE I'VE BEEN FOR YOU.

THE ONE YOU FEEL SHOULD HAVE NO HEART...

THE ONE YOU CALL THE MEN AND WOMAN IN BLUE...

BUT I AM HUMAN JUST LIKE YOU. "   AUTHER UNKNOWN

Any one that takes the time to read my blog posts over the past five years can see what I've represented since that time, and in many ways, for much of my life.   For some of us, the life story starts with one of privilege - we may be born to wealthy parents, with millions of dollars - and enjoy all the entitlements that are inherent within.  My parents immigrated here with barely a dollar in their pockets, from a lower-middle-class family upbringing.  They traveled against the odds, with little more than my dad's acceptance to medical residency,

I was surprised to see a letter to the editor printed and on-line in the Sunday, March 22, 2009, Cleveland Plain Dealer - "A flag of peace is found out of order at the St. Patrick's Day parade", by Lou Pumphrey. It starts: "Being half-Irish (on me mudder's side), off work on St. Patrick's Day and knowing the day would be sunny and warm, I vaguely considered donning my 41-year-old U.S. Army dress uniform and joining the St. Paddy's Day parade downtown, carrying my flag." But there was no accompanying picture of Lou or the Flag of Peace.

In the print edition, there was a file photo of a parade, but it was hardly relevant.

tears salutes for fallen police officer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHHMfjJEYts

click

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Brian Eno - more prophecy from the 1970s - Dead Finks Don't Talk, From Here Come The Warm Jets

Oh cheeky cheeky
Oh naughty sneaky
You're so perceptive
And I wonder how you knew.

Coloring my world. I am thinking about the recommendation of neighbor Anthony Green to find the jazz in Cleveland.  He steers me to Jazz28, which, lo and behold, can be found on Cleveland's west side.

I am going to make a bike trek there soon, and in the meantime, the Cleveland Jazz Project motivates me to clean my house on a blue Sunday.

Officials Hoard Valuable Databases Funded by Taxpayers

Politics  :  Online Rights  

It is obvious, by any definition, the process of redistricting the City Council wards of Cleveland is gerrymandering. The question is what to do about it. As stated in the title of this posting, "In gerrymandered election districts, the voters don't choose their politicians - the politicians choose their voters!" If that doesn't sufficiently define for you what Cleveland City Council President Sweeney has done, then how about the following...

I can't help but think what the world would be like today if all the people listening had paid attention to David Bowie's prophetic song, Five Years, back in 1972... had really believed it... taken it to heart... changed their lives like we only had five years left to save the world. What a beautiful world this could be.

What if David Bowie was right, and we only had five years, as of 1972... "that's all we got", and now we are just living out the end. That is how it seems to me. Could we be beyond the point of no return? Was Bowie right, back then?

 Someone alerted me to a WCPN show yesterday where Chris Evans of the Plain Dealer described County Commissioner Tim Hagan as aptly as anyone could.

 Ohio’s jobs picture looks more than dismal. It’s pathetic.

 The secrecy of the dealings between Squire, Sanders & Dempsey lawyer Fred Nance and MMPI suggests we won’t know how bad a deal the County Commissioners have made until it’s much too late.

The map above is one of two alternative proposals to the consultant’s recommendations being provided this morning at 9:30 am in Council’s Committee Room, 2nd Floor of City Hall, 601 Lakeside Avenue.

Just a quick review of the Transportation for Liveable Initiatives Communities Plan for Pearl Rd. to be submitted tomorrow on the same day as the fate of Ward 15 is decided by Cleveland City Council, reveals more of the same old sh_t.